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Israel, Iran Deal, New Settlements and Possible War Crimes

By Thomas Lodico

Currently Israel is going through something of a crisis involving foreign policy. As many have heard, Israel is involved in the Iran deal, settlement issues in the West Bank and now a possibility that they could have been involved in war crimes. This is what we know so far.

Israel on The Iran Deal. The moment that President Obama made it known that his administration, as well as the other nations in the P5+1, had come to a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began doing everything in their power to stop the deal. Netanyahu and his supporters passionately stated that the deal would strengthen Iran, causing troubles for America’s most supportive ally in the Middle East. Due to their strong connections to American politicians and members of Congress, Israel could cause trouble for the implementation of the law.

Current settlement issues in the West Bank have caused something of a controversy by the international community. Israel’s nationalist government is accused of contunuing to infringe on Palestinian sovereignty, and the government has called for the continued push into Palestine through the building of 300 homes in the area. As this push away from Palestinian sovereignty continues, the risk of conflict grows. A new report by Amnesty International states that Israel may have partaken in international war crimes during a ceasefire back in August caused by the bombing of the city of Rafah in Palestine. Amnesty International cites that the chaos of bombs and missiles that rained down in Palestine could have broken laws relating to the supposed ceasefire. Israel has stated that it has not broken any international laws and that it was simply defending an Israeli soldier. Under the “Hannibal Directive”, Israel has the right to use excessive force in certain time, one of those involving capture.